Despite winning a landmark constitutional challenge in federal district court in May 2025 against the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) unlawful freezing of our $11.4 million Community Change Grant, the Sustainability Institute received formal termination of the award on July 28, 2025. This termination immediately jeopardizes $2.7 million designated for critical health and safety repairs and weatherization for over 50 energy-insecure Union Heights households, as well as $6 million for the development of affordable housing units in Project 218.

We are actively challenging this termination as part of our pending litigation, which is now before the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals with oral arguments scheduled for October 23, 2025. While we pursue every legal and political avenue to recover or reinstate the funding, including community advocacy coordinated with City leadership, we acknowledge the lengthy resolution timeline and the low likelihood of recovering the full original investment, necessitating urgent contingency planning to meet the immediate safety needs of our residents.